Six-Day War (1899)
| Six-Day War of 1899 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
|
Ping Shan Ha Tsuen Kam Tin Pat Heung Shap Pat Heung Tai Po Tsat Yeuk Ngan Tin Wai Tak | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Henry Arthur Blake Stewart Lockhart Francis Henry May Roger Keyes William Gascoigne The O'Gorman Captain Berger Arthur Leonard Barrett C. S. Simmonds |
Tang Sai-ying Tang Hau-ying Tang Yi-yau Tang Fong-hing Tang Chiu-yi Tang Sek-leung Tang Tsing-wan Ng Shing-chi Man Tsam-chuen | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| More than 525 troops | ~2,600 warriors | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 2 wounded[1] | Several hundred villagers died[2] | ||||||||
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The Six-Day War of 1899 was fought between 14–19 April 1899, by the British Empire and the major punti clans of New Territories when the British takeover the territory after 99-Year Land Lease of New Territories signed on 9 June 1898 between the British and the Qing government. The war began on 14 April with the insurgents burnt down the matshed the British prepared for a flag-raising ceremony at the Flagstaff Hill in Tai Po.
A number of 125 Indian soldiers of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (disbanded in 1902, not to be confused with the latter Royal Hong Kong Regiment formed from the body of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in 1949, consisting primarily of Europeans and Chinese) was sent to Tai Po on 15 April and soon besieged by the villagers. They were rescued after the Royal Navy's HMS Fame shelled at the insurgents' position.[3] On 17 April the British forces launched attack on the insurgents in Lam Tsuen Valley and chased them into the hill. On 18 April, a number of 1,600 insurgents assaulted the British troop at Sheung Tsuen but was soon defeated. The insurgents and villagers surrendered on 19 April.
After the war, Governor Henry Arthur Blake adopted an amiable co-operation policy with the villagers and it remained of the official policy of the colonial government on the New Territories throughout almost the entire British rule.[4]
References
Bibliography
- Hase, Patrick H. (2008). The Six-Day War of 1899: Hong Kong in the Age of Imperialism. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9789622098992.